Challenge AcceptedAccording to Dawes’ column, Upshift kingpin Simon Cudby and Chris Glaspell lured Dawes into entering the BAJA RALLY after the 2018 event’s “general route and destinations” information surfaced surfaced last week. Dawes alluded to his own smack talking around a campfire months earlier having claimed to Cudby & Glaspell that he’d “do well and bring home a trophy, no problem”. When called out on the spot, Dawes fired back, “It’s On.”I’m all-in and putting everyone in the ADV world on notice”

Now It Is Really On
Dawes and his moto bros at Upshift Online will call on every resource at their disposal and are said to be enlisting the expertise of multi-time Baja champion and KTM R&D chief Quinn Cody for rally training and regular doses of reality. Moreover, the trio will be documenting the entire buildup of Dawes machine and training regimen for their readership and Upshift’s social media channels.
A Personal Journey
A legitimate “rally rookie”, the “well-rounded” racer has ceded his funny talk and will embark on a 7-month training and prep program leading the Upshift team toward the countdown to BAJA RALLY 2018 Prologue Stage slated for Tuesday October 9 at Las Cañadas Campgrounds 15 miles south of Ensenada.

RALLY Chairman Scotty “Breauxman” Bloom said Upshift’s 3 amigos are well known for hamming it up in Baja, but that the trio is taking the challenge and Dawes’ journey very seriously now that his entry to the invitation-only ADV Pro Class has been accepted. Dawes met his March 1 deadline and certified his application remotely while on business travel in Austria.

“Justin is the first ‘big-bike guy’ to throw his hat into the ring and put the entire ADV world on notice today”, Breauxman said. “I’ve explained that a 1300cc beast (KTM 1290R) is not the best choice for the all-new stages we’ll unveil this October, especially here in San Felipe. Nevertheless, I trust Justin will take his journey seriously and seize the opportunity this “once in a lifetime” adventure affords him.”

Bloom annotated that “once in a lifetime” is not a euphemism in this context. “None of the prior ADV Pro racers who have entered our event in this category have asked to return on a big bike. It’s really only something you will try once and I think it’s a ‘bucket list’ thing for these guys.”

ABOUT BAJA RALLYNow in its 6th year, the BAJA RALLY is the only navigation-based off road rally competition in the Mexican State of Baja CA. Spanning 6 days and over 1000 miles of racing and transfer stages, the BAJA RALLY has hosted over 150 entrants to date from more than 16 different counties and is one of only 3 such events in North America. Featured on The Weather Channel Original’s “Top 10” Series, the BAJA RALLY was named #5 on the Countdown to the World’s Most Extreme Adventures.

Upshift Online is a U.S.-based monthly online motorsport publication with unpaid international circulation. Upshift serves adventure enthusiasts by providing engaging feature articles, the latest race coverage, detailed product reviews and something rarely found in the motorsport industry — behind-the-scenes articles that take a unique and in-depth look at the manufacturing facilities of the industry’s leading companies.